Skirtwearers - How do you stay warm and practical?

[Blumke]

I would love to wear skirts and dresses more often. I am very short, a metre and a half in a hat as they say, with rather stunted legs. Trousers never seem to work. I have to take everything up, even petites, usually ruining the cut. Plus I have a jelly belly after children so often need a 10/12 on the waist while the rest of the bottom half is a 8/10. Therefore I am often asked if I am wearing harem pants.

Skirts/dresses seem to be the flattering answer but -One BIG problem : where I live.
It has been below 0 since October and we currently have 2 feet of snow. It is like this for 4/5 months of the year. In very cold weather I dress appropriately ie Scott of the Antarctic but I wonder if in March to maybe November I could try the following-

Skirt/ dress
Warm top
normal tights/ Thermal tights/long johns
Riding boots/knee high no heel boots?

I have to keep warm and have to walk long distances. Anyone out there doing this in a skirt?

How do you skirt wearers out there stay warm and practical? Would love to know and copy you furiously.

i live in scotland and walk to work, i wear knee-length skirts with thick tights and knee high boots - moving into actual leggings if it's really really cold... i've got 'normal' boots for coldish weather and furry lined polartec leather waterproof ones for actual plodding through deep snow.

i don't find my knees get cold if my toes and my top half are warm.

I wear skirts practicaly all the time, but live in Britain. In the winter I usually wear skirt made of warmish fabric,a top, and opaque tights, with flat boots. Then over that I wear a warm coat, with scarf, hat and gloves.

Thick skirt ( any length) with long boots, but make sure you wear thermal socks over your thick tights. Works for me!

Tights are your friend. They are as warm if not warmer than trousers if you get nice thick granny ones. I wear skirts lots and walk and ride my bike everywhere. I have a long padded coat that meets the top of my knee high boots. Mind you, I am a southern softie and though it's been pretty chilly for London this winter I'm not dealing with utterly arctic conditions.

Very thick tights - lovely woolen ones with a pattern on Or leggings. Boots too. And thick skirts.

My warmest outfit involves leggings, thick socks (2 pairs), knee length biker boots, a lined velvet pencil skirt, several layers of tops, a cashmere cardie, a puffa jacket (Asda, £20), scarf and gloves. I go to work like this (need to be reasonably smart).

all of the options you list are great OP

my warmest outfit is prob a knitted dress with knitted leggings and legwarmers under flat boots, plus thermals under the dress :)

deffo doable :)

You can double up on tights (read that on an American style blog).

I don't!

Gosh, that was fast! I just went to settle my son and already so many great ideas.

I like your idea fluffles of moving into actual leggings if too cold. I would probably move to thermal leggings. If tights would that be 70 dernier?

Can I ask all of you that use the skirt/boots combo- do you make sure that the skirt length comes over the top of the boots?

Also do you wear A line skirts or skirts with a bit of flounce? Would flounce plus boots on someone short look silly?

I wear skirts and dresses nearly all the time, after I realised they were a lot warmer. I go sledging in a skirt (although I have a long Land's End padded coat as well which I wear when it's very cold). (I've never been skiing in a skirt - although if the women in those old postcards could do it...).

Leggings are usually warmer than tights, but it depends on the tights. I wouldn't think in terms of denier - just get thick ribbed cotton ones (prob. best with wool in? although mine don't). Definitely not nylon, however high denier.

Legwarmers make quite a big difference - I bought some last year and forgot to wear them much - I've just dug them out and remembered they're called that for a reason :)

My skirts aren't any longer than knee length (although my Land's End coat which I wear when it's -5 or raining a lot is below the knee). Knees don't seem to feel the cold as much.

Also make sure your knee-high boots are fur-lined, i.e. as warm as your snow boots would be.

I wear skirts a lot and am a shortarse who feels the cold!

I tend to wear - just over the knee skirt, knee high boots, M&S Autograph merino or cashmere mix tights with thermal socks over and sometimes legwarmers too (I like the legwarmers or a pair of knee socks to just peep out of the top of the boots if I'm doing casual), layers on top.

yy legwarmers

they bridge the gap between boots and skirt/dress

I only wear short dresses, and I wear them with opaques and biker boots.

I love wearing skirts and dresses but feel the cold. I wear 2 pairs of opaques with skirts, really keeps me warm.

I'm short too and I buy charcoal grey thermal tights in the girls dept of M&S, age 13-14 fits perfectly and they are amazingly warm.

American Apparel leggings are great too, keep their shape and don't fade.